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Historically no, but you draft ebron to catch the ball, not be a "3rd TE". Spaeth is a phenomenal zone blocker, he will be great as the offense develops. Miller is on his last few seasons, i think he'll bounce back but getting someone now sure wouldnt hurt.

I do really like Niklas and ASJ, both would be great fits. Amaro is pretty meh to me

Exactly! Ebron changes the notion of the "typical Steelers TE." I think that fits well with what Haley wants to do with his TEs because he isn't looking for the TE to be a 3rd OT like Cowher.

Playing Fantasy Football does not qualify you to be the in the front office or on the coaching staff of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They are professionals and you are not!

Heard or read the same about Evens or Benjamin (not sure which one). The high rate of dropped passes yes concern me. But they still make big plays also. Always so many questions when dealing with the draft. I guess that is one reason why it is fun. I would still like to have a more balanced TE and a "taller" WR like 6-2 (and up) with some speed is good enough for me.

A lot of guys have drops at the college level, Julio Jones was notorious for easy drops.

Hes not going to run a slant like santonio did, who was just a fearless master of the slant. But getting that big guy in Haleys offense will allow them to play the TO role while brown can play the terry glenn role, or boldin role while brown can play the fitz role. Bowe, Breaston...and so on.

I think Marqise lee make the offense electric. Those two make it more like Marvin harrison/Reggie Wayne as a duo. But if they are hell bent on the bigger guy I hope they land on the right on

Heard or read the same about Evens or Benjamin (not sure which one). The high rate of dropped passes yes concern me. But they still make big plays also. Always so many questions when dealing with the draft. I guess that is one reason why it is fun. I would still like to have a more balanced TE and a "taller" WR like 6-2 (and up) with some speed is good enough for me.

I posted it in another tread. Fact of the matter is the further from the LOS the target...The harder the catch. 25% of Evans & Benjamin targets have been over 20 yards. 50% of Benjamins targets have been over 11 yards. It is a very interesting read & something you should be watching at the combine. See how Watkins catches down field running away from the ball. 57% of his catches have been screens. See how Lee locates the ball on deep patterns. See how Benjamin does with sideline routes. See what kind of route tree Evans can run since 43% of his catches were comeback (bailout) routes from scrambling QB. These are all the issues on hand that will move the Top guys around. If the BPA is Evans or Benjamin in the 1st...Make the pick. If not in the 1st...They will look 2nd or 3rd.

That's what the offense needs...A Big Vertical guy. Included BIG gives you the redzone help. Vertical in the NFL doesn't always equate to speed. It equates to matchup. The further from the LOS you get between the 20's...The smaller the window. You want players with bigger catching radius to help you with your accuracy downfield. In the face of a blitz...You want a guy you could throw it to off your back foot that gives you a higher percentage of completion or incompletion...Not a TO. The Steelers don't have that guy on the outside. Has to be on the outside away from Cover 1. This compliment helps Haley's scheme. Haley wants to work inside 20 yards off PA. The X like that keeps that Cover 1 or Cover 2 (s) deep hash. That widens & lengthens the field for Ab, Cotchery, & Miller. That's your goal. If your personnel dictates to the defense to go to sub with two safety high instead of Cover 1 single safety...That's a win for the offense. (Sound familiar...That was the Steeler D) Now....You created balance. Now...You run out of that too. Because the offense now is always +1 in the box. That's a higher run % dictated by down & distance. Football 101.

Peshek: TE Metrics
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
This tight end class boasts a number of extremely productive players which makes analysis of their receiving targets very interesting. However, each player examined here was successful in a unique way which is what actually makes them worth analyzing. In this piece, I broke them down only by their receiving targets but added in a few metrics that would separate this from past wide receiver columns.

All the targets were hand charted by me from every game of these players. If you’re missing your favorite TE such as C.J. Fiedorowicz or Xavier Grimble - it’s because their receptions were so limited that a good sample size wasn’t possible. In the piece, Austin Seferian-Jenkins will be referred to in the charts as ASJ.

Where Did They Catch the Ball?

The table below represents the percentage of catches in each zone, it is color-coded so that an above-average number of receptions is greener and a below-average number is redder.

RecTE

- The distribution of Amaro’s catches really represents what we see on tape – that is, a high number of throws underneath to get him in a position to gain yards after the catch. In that sense, he wasn’t the traditional seam threat you might expect for a taller TE.

- Ebron and Niklas represent the more traditional threats down the field you’d think of from a TE. Both caught a higher than average percentage of their receptions in the intermediate zones. Niklas in particular caught 71.9% of completions in the 6-20 yard range.

- Most peculiar is that Seferian-Jenkins was used as a screen threat on 25% of his receptions. Per the charts, he did an excellent job catching balls down the field – but we’ll see that he’s certainly not a YAC threat. The amount of screens he was used on is a bit baffling.

- Richard Rodgers was the most limited of the 5, catching half of his passes in the short zone and failing to tally a screen or pass deeper than 20 yards.
What Did They Do After They Caught It?

YacTE

- For Niklas, this is really a reinforcement of his ability as a seam threat. Although many will tag him with the ‘blocking TE’ label, he caught the ball further downfield than any Tight End in this class. Considering his size, averaging 6.4 yards after the catch is a feat certainly worthy of praise.

- As a bit of a TE/WR hybrid, we’d expect good YAC numbers from Richard Rodgers, but not necessarily as high as 8.17 yards after the catch.

- Noted earlier, Seferian-Jenkins is never going to break any records for yards after the catch. He just doesn’t have the ability to accelerate and get up field which is why he averaged a group low 3.4 yards after the catch. He did however catch the ball 8.8 yards from the LOS showing an ability to stretch the field.

- You’ll note that Eric Ebron’s metrics in this category look similar to Richard Rodgers. Where Rodgers caught the ball slightly further down the field and averaged less YAC, Ebron leads the class with 8.84 yards after the catch. That’s a number that rivals top WRs in the class like Mike Evans and Allen Robinson.

- Jace Amaro averaged a respectable 5.82 yards after the catch due in large part to a number of short passes. Both Ebron and Amaro caught the ball 6.9 yards down the field, but did so in different ways. Ebron’s average is comprised largely of screens and intermediate passes, while Amaro’s comes from a litany of quick comebacks and crossing routes.

- Theoretically, a TE’s strength and size should separate them from a bigger WR. That should lead to the ability to generate yards after contact when running with the ball. Here are the yards after contact for this group:
◦Niklas: 3.63
◦Rodgers: 3.31
◦ASJ: 1.69
◦Ebron: 3.5
◦Amaro: 2.96

Where Did They Line Up?

Where a TE aligns pre-snap is currently a hot topic and will continue to be as offenses spread out. Does a TE have the ability to put his hand in the dirt, is he always in the slot, how versatile is he? The chart below represents their alignment pre-snap on the totality of their targets.

AlignTE

- Amaro represents the TE we’re most likely to think of as an over-sized slot receiver. He still lined up for 11.8% of his targets on the offensive line, but spent an overwhelming majority of his time in the slot.

- With a bit more versatility, 21.7% of Ebron’s targets came in-line. He also has experience on the outside of the formation where 6.5% of his total targets came.

- Seferian-Jenkins by far showed the most experience in different alignments. 47% of his targets came after lining up with his hand in the dirt, while another 40% were a result of either starting in the slot or outside.

- Representing the more ‘traditional’ TE, Troy Niklas started alongside the offensive line 71% of the time. Compared to his fellow TEs who all had significant experience in the slot, Niklas only saw 13.7% of his targets come from the slot. This may make it all the more impressive that Niklas was able to get so many receptions deep down the field.

How Are Their Hands?

As the convergence of TEs and WRs continues, drop rate becomes a much more important metric to analyze in regard to these players. Tight ends will often have higher drop rates than wide receivers, so we’ll be less harsh on them. However, if a TE is being marketed as a ‘receiving’ player, you can’t always cut them slack for drops.

DropTE

- Amaro’s drop rate of 7.7% is about average for a receiving TE. If we were talking about a receiver, we’d be getting into concerning territory – but again TEs get cut a bit of slack.

- Here’s Ebron’s dirty little secret – his hands just aren’t as good as some make them out to be. He made some nice one-handed grabs, but he also has a 11.43% drop rate which is not something to be overlooked.

- Seferian-Jenkins is in wide receiver territory here, only dropping 5.4% of his total targets. Nothing to worry about with his hands.

- Right in the middle between safe and danger territory is Troy Niklas who dropped 8.57% of his catchable targets. Unlike players like Amaro and Ebron, his targets were limited and this number was more easily skewed by a few drops.

That’s all I have for now. I’ll answer any questions and tweet out additional info such as red zone target percentage and more on Twitter @NU_Gap. Thanks for reading.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger turned 32 on Sunday. While team gm Kevin Colbert has recently suggested his quarterback still has "a lot of tread on the tires," the clock is still ticking for the franchise to surround Roethlisberger with as much talent as possible in order to make one more championship run before there is no more tread remaining.

As I sat in my living room on the morning of September 2, 1982, and I heard the radio announcer say, "Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw turns 34, today," I thought, "Wow, that's old."

I was 10, at that point, and everyone was old to me, but I was still wise enough to know it actually was very old for a professional football player.

Most astute Steelers fans know the rest of the story: After a strike-shortened '82 season, Bradshaw had to have elbow surgery prior to the 1983 season, played one half of one game that year, and never played again after that.

And that brings me to Pittsburgh's current multiple Super Bowl winning quarterback, one Ben Roethlisberger, who turned 32 years old on Sunday.

At 41, I'm well-aware that EVERY NFL player is now younger than me, but despite being age-envious, I'm still rational enough to know 32 is fairly old for a professional football player.

I didn't blink an eye when Roethlisberger turned 28, 29, or even 31, but for some reason, 32 is just glaring because it's a realization that the clock is ticking.

When Roethlisberger is done, he's obviously going to be hard to replace.

The Dolphins still haven't been able to find the next Dan Marino; Denver spent 13 seasons trying to replace John Elway, before he, himself, as team vice president, signed 36 year old Peyton Manning to make the franchise a Super Bowl contender, once again.

Whether you love him or are annoyed by him, Roethlisberger is the Steelers greatest chance for winning another Super Bowl. And this is why it's paramount the franchise finds a way out of this salary cap mess it's been in since the last championship run and turns over the roster as fast as possible.

It's easier said than done, of course, as this will require expert financial and personnel decisions by the front office and also depend upon some major contributions coming from recent draft classes--Cameron Heyward, David DeCastro, Cortez Allen, Jarvis Jones, Le'Veon Bell and Markus Wheaton are just some of the men who must quickly get while the gettin' is good--and a major influx of talent from the upcoming drafts, including May 8, when Pittsburgh selects 15th in the first round

The sports world is often a relentlessly cyclical one.

It wasn't that long ago that the Seahawks and 49ers were league laughingstocks, but today, they're arguably the two most talented teams in the NFL, while Pittsburgh, a recent league juggernaut, faces much uncertainty about its future.

This article isn't suggesting the almost tired refrain of keeping Roethlisberger injury-free at all costs by wrapping him in a protective bubble of safe passes and a dominant ground game. It's about recognizing the urgency of the next year or two, and how imperative it is to turn this thing around and give No. 7 another window to bring the franchise more championship hardware.

Steelers gm Kevin Colbert recently stated he thinks Roethlisberger still has a lot of tread remaining on the tires.

To me, that's an encouraging point-of-view because it indicates a willingness to continue to build the franchise around its most important player.

I hope it also indicates a sense of urgency because, while some tires are more durable than others, they all lose their tread eventually.